Comics May 11, First Looks May 18

[dvandom]

         The Week's Picks and Pans, plus Awards of Dubious Merit

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups.  Recommendation does
not factor in price.  Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
Never attribute to malice yadda yadda.  Rants, Capsules can be found on my 
             homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 

First Looks:
     Every so often, I'll have the time (either while waiting for comics to
be sorted on Wednesday, or over the weekend) to pull out my PDA and type up
reviews of the stuff I read out of the First Looks pile.  Books I end up
buying will be moved down to the Capsules section on Wednesdays.  If I don't
give it a recommendation, I'm probably not buying it.
     If I read the First Looks on Wednesday, I won't include them in the next
week's review.  But if I don't get around to them until the weekend, I'll
include them in the next regular post.

For May 18 - 

     JLA Classified #7: DC - Still generally silly, but kicks in with a
pretty serious plotline that gives some characters a nice bit of closure,
presuming they're allowed by Editorial to remember it.  $2.99/$4.00Cn
     Black Panther v3 #4: Marvel - Generally better after a VERY shaky start,
but also clearly not playing well with others.  I'll repeat what I said last
issue, if they came out and admitted on the cover that this was out of
continuity, I'd probably buy it.  But not as it now is.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Young Avengers #4: Marvel - Very Bendis-y writing from Heinberg.   And
he neatly impales the book on the horns of a dilemma, albeit one with a
number of easy outs.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     New X-Men #14: Marvel - It's the Prom Issue, with all the usual stuff
and some unusual stuff.  But it's not a bit of filler fluff...instead, it
advances the plotlines pretty well.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Hercules #2 (of 5): Marvel - Sometimes mixing serious with silly works,
but not this time.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Thunderbolts v2 #8: Marvel - Ah, the dance of morality continues.
Nicieza shows that, unlike some writers, he's paying attention to the world
outside his book, and Grummett does his usual good job.  Recommended.
$2.99/$4.25Cn
     Livewires #4 (of 6): Marvel - The big target is revealed, and it's
nicely creepy as well as being one of those "surprised it hasn't happened
several times already" things.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn

Capsules:
     Short, relatively spoiler-free reviews of books I actually bring home
(as opposed to reading in preview form in the shop or online).  If I get a
book late due to distributor foulups or whatever, I'll put it in the Missing
section.

     Grimjack Killer Instinct #4 (of 6): IDW - Fun with ninja mimes and some
classic backstory.  Recommended.  $3.99
     Outsiders #23: DC - Big interrogation and traitor-bake ep, leading into
the TT crossover.  Moll's art is pretty good.  Recommended.  $2.50/$3.50Cn
     Green Arrow #50: DC - Takes place before the traitor-bake, I think (or
way way after).  Something of an anticlimax, but not necessarily bad for
being one.  Between recommended and mildly recommended.  $3.50/$4.75Cn
(oversized issue)
     JSA #73: DC - Day of Vengeance tie-in, whee.  A little too tied in,
unfortunately.  An issue like this just begs for the caption boxes modern
editors are just too "grown up" to use, because you really need a scorecard
for all these guests.  Mildly recommended.  $2.50/$3.50Cn
     Marvel Team-Up #8: Marvel - Meanwhile, in an entirely different plot,
Blade and Punisher chat.  I presume this will dovetail later.  It's kinda
slow and plodding, sadly, despite some good bits of dialogue.  Mildly
recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn
     Fantastic Four #526: Marvel - Pacing speeds up, not necessarily for the
better.  Some good bits, but a bit of a letdown.  Mildly recommended.
$2.99/$4.25Cn
     Captain America and the Falcon #14 (FINAL ISSUE): Marvel - Well, it
could have been better, but needs must when the impending cancellation
drives.  Decent resolutions to some loose ends.  Recommended.  $2.99/$4.25Cn

Gone Missing:
     Stuff that came out some places this week and that I wanted to buy, but
couldn't find for whatever reason, so people don't have to email me asking
"Why didn't you review X?"  (If it's neither here nor in the section above,
though, feel free to ask, I might have forgotten about it!)

     Current list as of 5/11:

     Savage Henry Puppet Trap, Savage Henry Powerchords #2, Flare #2 and #0,
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures v1 TPB, Essential Luke Cage v1.

Awards:

Best Book: None this week.

"So, A Guy Walks Into Owning A Bar" Award to Grimjack Killer Instinct #4 
     (of 6)

"The Thing's The Play" Award to Outsiders #23

"Riddles And Jokes" Award to Green Arrow #50

"Less Art, Mordru" Award to JSA #73

"My Movie Was Better Than Yours" Award to Marvel Team-Up #8

"To Deep, Perchance To Scream" Award to Fantastic Four #526

"It's LIKE Putting Him On A Bus, Sorta" Award to Captain American and the
     Falcon #14 (FINAL ISSUE)

   Dave Van Domelen, "Y'know, Cap, I always figured you for *smarter* than this. Right *there*, in your *folder*, it says, 'Cap is smarter than this'--and yet, here you are chasing a *goat* through a *war zone*." - Admiral Jimmy, and the goat may or may have been named Vincent.